We All Should Be Blurbers

Book two (well, really book one- I just did them out of order) of the "Sunnie Days" series arrived today.

Happy with it as usual (except for the few errors I found on my behalf).

Before I blogged, I had started writing journal entries about my kids on my computer (and even continued a little after I began the blog- a little overachieving if you ask me). I included these in this book, along with some pics from before the blog began.

This book is a little smaller than the other because it mostly only holds the journal entries (2005-2007) as well as blog posts (2006) with some added pics. 2006 is the year I started the blog, and I didn't start until April of that year. My posts used to be a lot shorter before I became so long winded in my old age.

Like I said in the title, we should all be "Blurbers". If you haven't "Blurbed" yet, you definitely should give it a try, especially if you have been a consistent blogger. I think it is completely worth your time and money (and honestly, it's not that expensive considering you are getting a journal and photo album in one). Now, shouldn't I get some kind of discount off my next book for promoting their product and plastering their name all over my blog?!

Oh Spring- We had such a good thing going

You and I- I really thought we had a good thing going on. You, with your blue skies, beautiful days, green grass, flowers, straight hair, cool nights, birds, lack of mosquitoes, and wonderful bluebonnets. And I would praise you time and again, saying how much I loved you and would bask in your goodness almost daily. We were just getting well acquainted, you and I, and then you were gone. Just like that- slipping away all in about a week. The three mosquitoes I killed this morning along with my sort of frizzy hair only further my sneaking suspicion that we have seen the best of you. Could you fight a little harder next time please? I know you had more in you than you gave this year. When the big, bad season of "Hot" comes rolling in next year, please don't scamper off into hibernation so easily. Everyone knows you are way better than "Hot" anyways and would much rather keep company with you. Just keep it in mind for the future, okay?
Anyways, I took the little girls to the mall to play today (always a good option when it's raining) before we made a run to Costco (or "tacos" as Jada called it) and decided to use my time sitting to clean out my phone. I'll often do this to get rid of old texts and clean off pictures that Mya will take with my phone (always fun to see what she comes up with). I then got started emailing myself a bunch of old pics I had saved and thought it would be fun to post them. So here's a lot of randomness, but good as usual. Above is Jada in Target during our trip to Cali for Kirstie's bridal shower. And below- the girls being crazy during Thanksgiving in Louisiana while Jake and I were away (I think).

Elle relaxing on the upside-down trampoline, preparing for Hurricane Ike with daddy.

Father modeling an awesome vintage jacket that I believe was in the running as attire for Kirstie's wedding.

Little Boo trying out a riding lawn mower at Lowe's in Utah in September.

Jake- the proud owner of a leopard bra during a Christmas party white elephant gift exchange. Sadly it was taken from him during the game.

A little snow in Texas.

Jada traumatized at the car wash.

Someone from Jake's work decorated his cube when he turned 30 while he was away at lunch.

Pics from Destin for Jake's 30th birthday.

Boo in Cali modeling some glasses.

Always down for a little ride on the carousel.

Having a little fun in the American Fork emergency room.

Remember this?

The proud new owner of Floppy the frog, given in the ER.

An awesome close-up taken most likely by Mya.

Waiting for a ride in the SLC airport with Jada's favorite blankie (which I'm sure was drug all across the dirty floor and slept with that night- yuck!)

Cute little My-My.

Isn't that sweet?!

And I think one of many awesome self-portraits by Mya (unless this first one was taken by Boo).

Apparently taking pics with my phone is a good way to pass the time while waiting at school to pick up Elle.

Just trying to catch some beads.

A nice day at the park.

A little fishing off Catalina Island at Christmastime.

McD's ice cream, always a winner.

Besides having the ultimate "nose" for a stinky diaper and asking what kind of dead animal we are eating when we have meat, Mya has become such a good little helper with Jada lately. She still tortures her on occasion, but a lot of times they play. They love to play "Ring around the rosy" and are currently sitting together with puzzles. Mya has great intentions. I just think it's hard to remember to be good all the time when you are four. And speaking of Boo, some fun things to remember as of lately:

*How almost any ouchie warrants a "Dora band aid" in her mind, even if she bonks her head. She spent a good amount of time one day with a band aid on the top of her head.

*How words ending in "r" make the "t" sound when spoken by Jada, like "flowit" (flower) and "strollit" (stroller) and "beart" (bear) and "roart" (roar)

*How she'll drag the chair all the way out from my room to the kitchen to watch me cook and gets so excited watching the Kitchen Aide spin

*"Look" is "Yook, Mommy!"

*How she likes to sleep all huddled around her blankie

*How she sometimes refers to her pink jelly shoes are her "jelly bean shoes"

*How she loves to sing. Her nursery song leader said she sings so loud in class and knows the songs (she must fake it well!)

*How she likes to put on her sissies panties and other's shoes

*How chapstick is "mips" or "mitz" and the lid is "choke" (because she can choke on it)

*How she says "Hold you baby" after getting out of the tub and being wrapped up in her towel

*How she likes to play with Mya's animal hospital and how the other day I found her playing with her Little People castle stuff saying "Just a second" over and over to the little people

*How she has no clue what color things really are, pink shoes are yellow, and so on

*How she has become opinionated about what books we read before nap and bed and what clothes she wears, often saying "different clothes" or climbing up on the rocking chair to pick out of her PJ/swimsuit drawer

*How she told me last night that she has a baby in her tummy, too

All that, along with a million other things make this little stage so fun!

A Little About K's, A Little About Z's

Today I successfully completed my last day as preschool teacher for the school year. Yeah! I'm so happy! We still have a little over a month left, but due to some scheduling things, today was my last day as teacher! In all honesty I really enjoy it, but at the same time dread it. It is kind of a pain to prepare for, but it always ends up being great the day of and I enjoy it. I think I was kind of made for teaching. If I didn't have 3 (almost 4) appendages to worry about I would love to teach. Life choices- happy I made the ones I did. Anyways, I am glad Mya was able to participate again this year. It helped us stay connected to friends, forced us to have kids over, and helped me find ways to be creative.

I had preschool here last Thursday and again today (like I said, scheduling stuff due to doctors and trips). Last week we learned about "K" and did exciting things like making kangaroo and koala puppets, painting with ketchup (smelly but the kids liked it), cutting triangles to make kites, and decorating plastic bags to use as homemade kites. Always a good time.

Today was the letter "Z" and so we of course talked about and looked for all kinds of fun "z" things, read lots of books, practiced zeros and zigzags and "z's", reenacted "Goodnight Gorilla", made zebra masks, and other exciting things. Here's to completing another year!

Jake and three friends had devised this fun weight loss competition with three categories: number of work outs, meeting a weight loss goal, and push-ups improvement. Saturday the competition came to a close with the Blue Bell 10K (funny to anyone else that the competition would end with all you can eat Blue Bell bars at the finish line?!). I really am proud of Jake who came in a very close second. He worked out at least 5 days a week for 10 weeks, lost a lot of weight, ate really healthy, and did awesome.

I had big plans of heading out to the race like we did last year. Ice cream and flowers and all. It was going to be great. Tons of friends were also running. But, when the weather prediction said 90-100% chance of rain, plans had to change. The girls and I stayed home while Jake ran in the pouring rain with no shirt or socks. He said it was so fun and I am kind of jealous I didn't get to participate. Oh well- there's always next year!

And let's just talk for a bit about this little monkey (yes those are shorts on her head at Target, and I did not put them on her)...

She really is at such a fun/funny stage. I love her little voice and all the funny things she says, like "Bye, alligadit" to Elle as she gets out of the car for school in the morning. (She picked up on me saying "See you later, alligator" sometimes and thought "Bye, alligator" was a good thing to say.)

The other day she was telling me that this little toy frog was "scary". I can understand that. She's probably not the first to be scared of fake reptile toys. I can also understand her saying "I scared" when a noisy car drives by. What I can't understand is why the other night she told me something like "That scary" about a piece of broccoli in her dinner. Broccoli? Scary? Is it the green color? Too funny.

We also had an eventful visit to the post office the other morning. What was meant to be just a quick run in turned a little bloody when Jada smacked her nose on something and started bleeding everywhere. I didn't have my bag with me (meaning no tissues or wipies) but luckily some nice lady lent me some tissue. It still got on me, on her, and on the floor. The post office- obviously not made for small children.

And lastly, a little about me. I've just been fulfilling my roles like usual as mom, taxi driver, preschool teacher, room reader, gymnastics watcher, hair doer, shopper (never tire of this role), chef, blogger, blurber (ordered another book for 2004-2006), travel agent (planning some fun stuff like Cali in mid-May to see family), and RS Secretary (got to make some fun invites for a board mtg- love projects like that). Really nothing new- just getting fatter each day. May have been compared to a beach tent yesterday. Life goes on as usual. Never a dull moment...

Someone I like to call "Father"

And really, that is what I like to call him. I love my dad- he is awesome, he is great, he is all you could want in a dad.
I wanted to record a couple of things I wrote in my journal recently about my dad and reasons why he is so great.

1- He was always so supportive of us growing up in all of our extracurricular activities. He coached many teams (he had four kids, keep in mind, and a job and church calling) and always tried to make it to all or our events. Even in high school he tried to come to everything. It always made me so glad to see him there, sitting in the stands. I realize a lot more now what a sacrifice that must have been at times for him to be there.

2-Having him around brings a sense of safety and comfort. Maybe it's a "dad" thing, but I always feel safe when he is around.

3- He is a door locking fanatic! You can guarantee that just about every night he will make the rounds to ensure that the doors are locked, lights are off, and everything is set. I think I must have inherited that from him (and it's a good thing, too, because Jake doesn't seem to have that gene).

4- He taught us to always go to church. He set a great example of this. You could always guarantee that he would be there on time, and most of the time saving the back row for our family. He set a great example of service in the church and I remember being brought around when I was younger to go home teaching with him.

5- He always tries to talk optimistically. He likes to talk as if the glass is half full.

6- He always made sure to plan vacations for us every summer and sometimes winter. We spent some winters skiing in Utah, many summers in Utah at the cabin, or at the beach in Cayucos, or water skiing at places like Bass Lake or Lake Powell. And who can forget the awesome family trips to his favorite place- Hawaii!!!

7- Any activity is fun if he is on board. When he wants to do something, it is planned, carried out, and great.

8- He loves my little girls. I think having three girls of his own helped him have a special way with his granddaughters. He loves to take them outside when they are little to find the birds. He makes the best crow noises. He even is kind enough to help me when I visit and has been known to get my kids up, make them a waffle, and put on some cartoons before he leaves for work.

9- I always know that he will be there if I ever need him. All I would have to do is say the word and he would come. When he dropped me off for college, he made this very clear to me. It was only a 9 hour drive and he would be willing to come if anything ever happened.

10- He set limits for us growing up, along with clear expectations. We had a curfew, and most nights he would wait up for us until we got home. I think he said he would take on projects on nights like Prom to pass the time. He didn't get overly upset with us about things, but you would know if he was unhappy.

11- He really took care of us. He always wanted to make sure we were eating okay as newlyweds and would always hit up Costco to help us build up our food supply. He would help us each year get set up at college, making Target/Costco runs, hooking up computers, buying textbooks, etc.

12- He is always very friendly and talkative to people that come over (unless it was some boy he didn't like). He could also play the "intimidating" dad role well if it was ever needed.

Those things, along with many others, make him an awesome dad.

I feel very blessed and very lucky.